Udupi district’s 2014 was disrupted by controversies

People rejoiced in the decision of Karnataka High Court to allow Kambala to continue. File photo.

Controversies, caste discrimination and communal tension dominated Udupi district in 2014.

Vanita Shetty, an assistant lecturer of the School of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal University, was asked to leave the dinning hall of the Sri Krishna Math/Temple for being a non-Brahmin, on April 15. This incident triggered a series of protests.

The controversy ended only after Vidyavallabha Tirtha Swami of Paraya Kaniyur Math expressed regret over the incident on April 21. There were calls for putting an end to the practice of ‘pankti bheda’ (separate seating arrangements for non-Brahmins during meals) at the temple.

The burning down of eight shops in the Jamia Complex at Gangolli village in the district on November 29 led to tension between two communities. The police had to struggle to normalise the situation there.

Manipal rape case

A year-and-a-half after the shocking abduction and gangrape of a medical student near Manipal on June 20, 2013, the case still continued at the District and Sessions Court here.

The trial began at the District and Sessions Court here on January 6, 2014. There are a total of 106 witnesses in the case. The medical student deposed before the court on February 3.

Kasturirangan report

The controversy over K. Kasturirangan panel’s report on the conservation of Western Ghats dominated the headlines in the district. The people in many villages coming under the ambit of the report protested against it. A bandh was observed in Hebri against the report on December 18. Political parties did nothing but accuse one another on the report.

Kambala ban

The district administration banned Kambala (buffalo race) in Udupi district on November 15 after the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) raised objections in view of a Supreme Court order, which led to an outrage. Even though the High Court allowed Kambala to continue with certain conditions, the Baaradi Beedu Kambala held near Karkala on December 20 attracted controversy as the AWBI alleged cruelty to the animals in the event. However, the organisers denied it.

Man-animal conflict confined to rural areas of the district extended to urban areas this year, when a leopard made an appearance on the Manipal University campus on April 8 and was captured by the Forest Department personnel on April 9.

BJP’s comeback

In politics, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a comeback in the district with its candidate Shobha Karandlaje defeating the Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde with a margin of 1.81 lakh votes in the parliamentary elections, thanks to the nation-wide Modi wave, on May 16.

The seat of the Deputy Commissioner turned out to be a slippery one, with the district seeing three Deputy Commissioners – Muddu Mohan, S.S. Pattanashetty and R. Vishal — after M.T. Reju was transferred to Uttara Kannada in February 2014.